Highlights of A Subtle Nature
by the laughing redhead
Summary: So, this is my take on how Remus and Dora met in OOTP- and the chaos that ensued.
1. Chapter 1

**So, this is my first attempt at a Lupin/ Tonks story, and i expect you to send in comments/criticisms etc. :-P **

**I hope that you like it ( as i assume that you will) **

**This takes place right before Order of the Phoenix through the end, it's a bit random at times. But that's me.  
**

* * *

So he was there- always there. Standing off to one side, smiling that strange half-smile of his. It wasn't exactly a friendly smile, but it was kind and gentle.

This was always what Tonks saw of him, the calm almond eyes, set in a pale and unassuming face.

He always seemed a bit tired, and unkempt- shabbily dressed and quietly intelligent- either keeping Sirius in touch with his level head, or calmly giving advice to anyone that happened to pass through Grimmauld place.

He and Harry seemed to have a deeply loyal connection, as she'd never seen the boy disagree with the man.

That, didn't happen. Harry although willing to take advice, was as much his own man as anyone she'd ever known. He wore power like a robe, without having the annoyance of being conscious of it.

But so did Lupin. For a worried looking man- he reeked of intelligence and well controlled aura of hidden might.

Tonks thought back to the time when they'd first met.

۞

She had just been invited into the Order; Mad-Eye had actually looked proud of her as she agreed to keep their secret above all else.

The first meeting was something that she had looked forward to for weeks, it was supposed to be held at Hogwarts.

It was summertime; half of the Order lived in the giant old school during the weeks when no students traversed the hallowed halls. Tonks herself hadn't been back to the school since graduating several years ago, so this would be like a homecoming for her.

But then Dumbledore (yes, Dumbledore) had sent a note that Hogwarts was no longer the insurmountable fortress that it had once been- and had requested ideas for another place of meeting.

Tonks had no where to suggest- her own tiny apartment was most likely watched by the Ministry... it had never bothered her before- but now that she was starting to see the corruptness of the Ministry it rankled that they kept such a close eye on those who they called their friends and employees.

So the meeting was delayed yet _another _week. Tonks was quite sure that she would crawl out of her skin if it was delayed again.

But it wasn't.

Mad-Eye Showed up late one Tuesday evening, looking even more disgruntled than usual- checking over his shoulder at least five times before he finally spoke to her.

"Nym-"  
"Tonks," She replied instantly, giving her trainer a frosty glare.

"Young lady, I am your boss... I can call you whatever I want."

Tonks eyed him irritably.

"Yes sir."

He seemed uncomfortable with her cold gaze- punching her lightly in the shoulder and frowning deeply.

"Away wit' ye girl- we've got a meeting with the Order.... though I don't know why they're scheduling it so haphazardly... you'd think they'd be more careful with all the Death Eaters deciding loyalties... they should practice more-"

"-Constant Vigilance" Tonks finished for him.

Moody regarded his favorite trainee with a fond dark eye.

"Come on girl."

And with that they disappeared into the night.

۞

When number 12 came into view Tonks about dropped her broom.

"Bloody-"

"-Watch your tongue girl." Moody interrupted tersely.

The house smelled like decay... and if it weren't so ridiculous.. she would say that it smelled like evil had lived in the house.

But that was dumb...

Someone was in the room... standing as far as she could tell in the stairwell, watching them enter.

She crept down the hall- ignoring Moody's warning hiss; moving with incredible stealth (for her), that is until she met the troll-leg umbrella stand in the hall.

It would have been better had she fallen just into the floor- perhaps brained herself on the wall... but no.. she had to take someone down in the process.

"Lumos!" Roared Moody and someone else at the same time.

A tall weathered looking man was standing on the stair- tattoos showing through his tattered shirt which was several decades out of date- holding his wand carefully in his hand- the end glowing brightly.

"Sirius! Warn us next time you wait for us at the bloody door!!"

But she would have known who this was had Moody never said the name.

Sirius Black- the most dangerous fugitive and only man to escape Azkaban prison.

Not to mention a member of her family.

"Can you blame me Alastor? With all the spying and body-snatching going on in the world- I should really be asking you what my cat's name is, or some other such ridiculous question to which only a true Order member would know the answer." Sirius grinned down unabashed at the fuming Moody.

He looked less menacing than on the wanted poster and Moody was making no move to attack- but still. She went for her wand, and found someone's hand instead.

That's when she remembered that she was laying on someone....

"Good Grief Lupin... always getting the pretty girls... you _dog_."

The way that Sirius emphasized dog struck Tonks as odd- but her mind was already consumed with getting off of the poor man that she had slammed into the wall... and floor.

She struggled and managed to scuttle off of the man below her- pulling herself clumsily up- then there was Sirius Black's hand reaching down to help her up- making a face that oddly enough, reminded Tonks of when her family dog did something particularly brilliant and terrible.

Ignoring that random thought Tonks turned to help the man she had crushed, up- and found herself inches away from a pair of worn Almond eyes.

His unkempt hair hung into his face- he flicked it out of his eyes with a swift twist of his head. Effectively breaking the eye contact.

That's when she realized that she was still holding tightly onto Sirius' hand.

He bent swiftly- they smile still in his eyes and kissed it gallantly.

"Welcome beautiful maiden to my humble abode."  
Tonks laughed despite herself, bowing just as deeply and ridiculously. Remembering why he had always been her favorite cousin.

"Thank you kind sir."

Moody looked more pleased than she'd seen him in years.

Sirius turned to Moody and gave a small, mildly repentant smile.

"How goes it in the land of living?"  
Tonks- normally would have immediately latched onto the the information that her boss and the famous murderer was having- but inexplicably she found herself turning to the pale man standing forgotten- off to one side.

"Wotcher." She started... he stared blankly at her. "Hello?" She tried again..

He seemed slightly distracted.

"Hi."

One word... his voice was surprisingly hoarse.

"I'm Tonks..." She tried again... surprised at her own inability to stop talking to a man that clearly did not want to speak to her.

He looked surprised to- and apparently the surprise made him speak without thinking.

"Lupin." He replied. "Remus Lupin."

She knew that name... from somewhere.

"Oh!" She replied, her eyes brightening "You're the-"

"-Werewolf." He filled in

"-Old Defense Against the Dark Arts............ professor..." She continued.

Tonks stared at him in shock... but not over the fact that he was a werewolf- it was the intensely bitter note in his voice when he said the single word.

There he was, pale and livid looking... after only speaking to her for about thirty seconds.

"I heard you taught for a year or two..." She concluded lamely. "That, was my favorite class. You know when I was in... school"

The lines on his face seemed to lighten slightly, he stuck his hands in his pockets and looked shyly upward.

"Yeah... I taught for a year... then I retired on account of me being a-"

"-Werewolf." She supplied helpfully.

"Yes." He answered shortly- the shuttered anger covering his face again "A werewolf."

"Well... I'm a Metamorphmagus- so I understand the odd changes thing.."

He regarded her curiously for the first time since they met.

"Really?"

He had seen her klutziness in full action... there was disbelief in his voice.

She grinned and her hair color went from its normal purple to a pale green.

His eyebrows raised to above the hair hanging in his face, which she noticed was pale like the rest of the man. A light brown littered with gray.

She thought it made him looked distinguished.... which was a random thought to have about a man that she had only met a few minutes before

"I just thought that you had.... eccentric taste in hair colors."

She giggled.

"No wonder you looked so worried that I was talking to you."

Lupin grinned sheepishly and looked about to reply when Sirius loped over- looking like a dog with a bone.

"Guess what Moony!!"

Lupin assumed the patient face of a father with an overeager son.

Suddenly they were 14 again- Tonks could almost see this scene being replayed at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall.

"Just tell me Padfoot..."

"It's more fun if you guess."

"Padfoot..."

"Harry's coming to visit." Sirius crowed- and Tonks was amazed at how the years dropped away from the man as he smiled.

Remus Lupin beamed in response to this news. Tonks noticed how handsome he was when he smiled.

Another random thought. This was getting worse...

"Good news then Sirius, I've been missing the boy myself."

Sirius' face softened- and they were men again. Men with the weight of the world many times over on their shoulders.

"He adored you Remus. Talks about you like you're some sort of god... if I didn't know you so well I would have been insanely jealous, you pompous idiot."

Lupin stuck his hands even deeper in his pockets than before- ducking his head like a child caught doing something he shouldn't have been.

There was a moment of camaraderie between the two men- Tonks could practically see the unbreakable bonds of friendship materializing between them.

Sirius was suddenly aware that there were _other _people in the room too.

"Now Moony- you haven't introduced me properly to this villainous beauty of the spearmint hair."  
Remus glared in mock irritation at the grinning idiot in front of him. Sirius turned to Tonks with a look of false rapture on his weathered face. "My dear Moony was attempting to woo you away before I got a chance-" Tonks could hear the joke in her cousin's voice- apparently he had realized who she was.

"-Sirius you wanker- leave the poor girl alone..." He turned apologetically to Tonks. "Excuse the poor sod... He hasn't left this house in several weeks... and the romance at Azkaban was a bit limited, since most of the women there were his own family..."  
Sirius gave a very dog like growl- Remus was the only person who got away with making Azkaban jokes, but only just barely.

"Remus..." He began warningly.

But Tonks butted in before he could finish- her eyes gleaming oddly.

"If you're meaning Aunt Bella, I truly doubt that she would have a problem with something as trivial as incest, Mum was always saying that she fancied you Sirius."

Sirius' face took on a decidedly pale pallor and he wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"Oh don't say that Ny-" He caught her glare. "Sorry luv- _Tonks, _Bellatrix is perhaps the most disgustingly Black creature to have ever haunted these hallowed halls."

Lupin looked a bit pale... alright... pal_er_.

"You're related?" He asked

Tonks grinned unhelpfully at him and nodded.

"My two aunts are quite formidable in their old age... There's Aunt Bellatrix and Aunt Narcissa. Yeah... that's what I did when I found out..." She said, in response to Lupin's face "Let's just say that I am no stranger to having skeletons in the closet. Look at Cousin Sirius here, up until about five minutes ago I thought that he was among the Death Eating scum that the rest of my family seem to be." Tonks gave a soon-to-be familiar grin. "Thank God _someone_ isn't as evil as we thought."  
Sirius flashed the same Black grin.

"Haven't seen you in a wizard's age, my dear Tonks." He grinned, "Last time I saw you, you were just an annoying little girl with an eerie obsession with changing your face up to scare all of your parents' guests- speaking of them, how are dear old Andromeda and Ted?  
"About the same- mum's always fussing about me bein' an auror and dad's always fussing about mum's fussing," She laughed. "It's always the same when I go back."  
Sirius listened to her story a bit wistfully. He had truly liked Andromeda growing up.

"Well next time you see them, could you maybe mention that I'm not a raving, homicidal lunatic."

Tonks smirk widened.

"I don't know how often that will crop up in our usual conversations- but I'll try to shove it in. Here now, what happened to the professor?"

She couldn't help it... she had noticed his absence almost as soon as it had happened, Sirius regarded her curiously, but mopped all expression off his face when she turned back to him,

"Professor? Oh you mean old Moony, ah well, he ran off halfway through our reminiscing. You really caught him out with him not knowing that you were part of the Ancient and Noble House of Black... he probably thinks that he offended you or some such rot... Poor Remus, off to read some Muggle Sci-Fi book. He avoids company like the plague.. I think that he thinks that he's going to go all wanky and Call of the Wild." Sirius regarded the empty stairwell with some thought. "He's not been the same since he changed that night at Hogwarts... still feels responsible, that he might have killed Harry, or _me_ even." Sirius turned away, all humor drawn from his face. "Moony's a bit paranoid about being a werewolf... always has been, he's always been slightly amazed that people _want _to talk to him or be friends with him. Once James and I discovered his "Hairy Little Problem" we never let him away from us." Sirius smiled fondly, unsure of why he was sharing these old and dilapidated memories with his young cousin. "Remus needs friends who care more than anything else, and there's only me left to go now... I worry about the idiot." Sirius seemed to snap out of his reverie- thoughis eyes continued to watch her seriously, as if he wanted her to understand the underlying meaning in his words."Ah well, It seems I'm getting a bit nostalgic in my old age... I bet you're hungry... Mad-Eye already went down to talk with Dumbledore; the meeting won't start for a bit yet... and Snivel-" He caught himself. "Snape is _always _late, the git."

Tonks turned back to the stairwell, still slightly consumed with the man that she had only briefly met.

"Don't worry fair cousin, Moony'll be down soon as he's remembered that there _is _a world past the pages of his books. Come on then, I think that Molly left us some Bangers when she was here last."

* * *

**Well, so- how do you like it?**

** i haven't finished the story yet... so i still have no idea what's going to happen.**

**So yeah, read and review, join the Reviewlution (which isn't a word i know). :-P**

**Aloha,**

**Red  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 is HERE :-P for those of you who are actually reading this, thanks for waiting so long. I've been traveling almost constantly for the past 2 weeks and so have had no time to upload this.**

**Read and Review- whether or not you liked it or not :-))**

**Without Further Ado I give you:**

**Chapter 2**

۞

It was as if fate was lending it's fickle hand into her relationship with the werewolf.

After the meeting, she found her self sitting next to him- Sirius was forlornly perched in one corner, swigging dejectedly from a bottle of Firewhiskey.

Sirius had been asked- well- more _ordered, _to stay at Number 12 indefinitely; by _Dumbledore_ himself. Snape had then proceeded to talk about how he was risking his skin out there while some people (a sardonic sneer had been saved for Sirius at that point) loafed about like a lazy dog.

Remus had gently restrained Sirius and Dumbledore had given Snape a reproving look.

Both had quieted almost instantly and kept themselves occupied by shooting murderous glances across the table at random intervals.

Hours later, Lupin was sitting in the same chair- his surprisingly long legs stretched out to lay on the table, a thick tome in his hands.

So far, he was managing to carry on an entire conversation with the sulking and by-the-minute- drunker Sirius, while not missing a sentence in his book, as Tonks noticed that he turned pages with methodical regularity.

Tonks was about getting ready to go to bed, (as it was almost 6 in the morning) when Lupin seemed to notice her.

"So Tonks," He asked mellowly, flipping to the next page in his book. "How did you like your first Order Meeting?"  
Tonks sat back down with a yawn.

"Well, since we discussed _nothing _of interest except the fact that You-Know-Who-"

"-Voldemort."

Tonks shivered.

"Yes, _him_- Is calling all his old mates back together- I found the whole meeting a bit of a snore."  
Lupin allowed a brief smile to cross his face.

"What, you're saying that you _didn't _enjoy hearing Sirius whine about the fact that he's stuck here for longer? Shocking"

"I didn't _whine_." Whined Sirius from his corner, as he stared blearily at them.

"Right, Padfoot...."

"It was odd though- seeing all my teachers, all talking about war and treating me like an adult. A bit eerie if you get my meaning"

"Git..." Muttered Sirius suddenly.

"Who're you talking about Padfoot?" Remus called to the corner.

"No one.." Said Sirius- glowering in response.

Tonks chuckled and yawned again- this time with a popping noise at the end. Sirius gave an extremely unmanly giggle and fell off his chair.

Remus regarded her carefully.

"You're tired?"

Tonks smiled foolishly.

"A bit, yeah, Mad-Eye came to get me from my apartment about the time that I was going for a kip- you're not telling me that you're _not _tired?"  
Lupin's face was lit with a strange glow from the two lanterns placed along the room.

They had resorted to Muggle lighting since no one wanted to constantly be holding their wand at the ready and no one could get Kreacher to tell them where it was that they turned the lights on- and Sirius was in no condition to boss the surly house-elf around.

"You could say that I'm more of a night person."  
Tonks grimaced at her own forgetfulness.

"Sorry sir- are you saying you don't sleep at all?"

"Don't call me sir..." Remus replied with a stern glance- making Tonks understand why Harry treated him with such respect. "You aren't one of my students nor are you in any way my inferior... call me Remus or Lupin..."

"Or Moony..." Muttered Sirius from his place on the floor next to his chair, he looked clearer than he had a few minutes ago- although there was no way that Tonks could explain this.

"Snivellus brought your Potion yet this month?" Asked Sirius, only the barest trace of a slur in his words.

Remus shook his head,

"He said that he would bring it with his next report-"  
"Manky git..." Said Sirius, who apparently took any chance to call names at the surly Potion's Master.

Snape had been as dark and terrifying as Tonks remembered him- she couldn't tell whether he had recognized her or not.

He had swept in- looking even more forbidding that she recalled- fifteen minutes into the meeting and nodded respectfully to Dumbledore. There had been a split second when he and the young auror had traded glances. The slightest glimmer of recognition in the boundless, dark eyes- and then he had turned to give his report to the group at large. Apparently she was not interesting enough to keep his attention and so he chose instead to sneer at Sirius until it came time for him to speak again.

Lupin sighed, and looked tired- turning the page in his book.

"-considering all the horrors that we put him (meaning Snape, she assumed; during her reminiscing she had missed several sentences of the conversation,) through in school, I think he's being awfully tolerant of us- Of _me_ especially. He doesn't have to make the Wolfsbane every month for me-"  
Sirius gave his bark-like laugh.

"-It's only cause he's afraid of Dumbledore- if the Headmaster were ever to pike off I have the strangest feeling that Snape would be right in the middle of his old Death Eating buddies shooting off Aveda Kedavras with the rest of them."

"You don't know that Sirius."

Sirius stood carefully and began to pace the small room- his pacing was a little crooked, but quite excellent considering the three empty bottles of Firewhiskey that rattled at his feet.

"I think I do..." He muttered rebelliously "You know what we need?" He said suddenly. "A girl..." Then seemed to come to himself. "Well 'cept you Nymphadora- y-you actually need a m-m-man."

Tonks could have strangled her cousin. He could barely sputter out a sentence; yet her 4 syllable name was no trouble whatsoever.

"Nymphadora?" Asked Lupin ignoring Sirius continued drunken rant- laying his book down in his lap, sliding a small worn looking bookmark between the pages.

_Of course he would have a bookmark. _She thought _He's a bookmark kinda guy_

"Your name is Nymphadora?" His brow wrinkled in a most fascinating manner, distracting Tonks from her rage at Sirius. "I thought your name was-"  
"-Tonks." She replied, "My name _is _Tonks, my mum was only having a bit of a laugh when she saddled me with _that_ joke" She rolled her eyes expressively.

He smiled,

"I think that it's rather-"  
"-ugly?"

"-Unusual, and pretty." He continued, as if he hadn't heard her interruption. "I think it fits you rather well."

Tonks was blatantly shocked by the offhand compliment that he had just paid her- but being an Auror and a Metamorphmagus she kept her composure perfectly and merely knocked a glass over...

"You'll have to tell my mum that- she's heard my ideas on the name often enough..." A swift spell and the table was dry where the water had spilled and the glass was repaired.  
A quick, cautious smile crossed his face; Tonks could almost guess that he was hoping that she had missed the warmth in his previous words. _She _almost wished that she had missed the warmth in his words. It would make things considerably, _easier_.

"I'll be sure to."  
Their eyes met briefly- Tonks felt herself blush-

Sirius fell backwards again, aiming for his stool and missing completely. He wasn't very perturbed by this fact; for he began to sing loudly clinking the two bottles of Firewhiskey in his hands together with disturbingly excellent tempo.

"Padfoot you idiot-" The moment was lost as Remus stood suddenly, placing the book carefully on the table and moving over to help his friend.

Sirius' long reddish coat looked horridly dusty. They _really _needed to clean this house.

Lupin heaved Sirius to his feet- putting an arm under his friends'- tottering lightly under the weight.

"Good grief Sirius- when Molly swore that she would put some meat on your bones, I didn't think that she would take it _this _literally."

Sirius laughed loudly- Tonks could hear him being obnoxious all the way up the stairs.

Tonks wearily leaned forward onto the table, misjudging the distance and smacking her head faithfully on the edge- finding herself completely knackered; head bumping into the book still lying on the table.

She fingered the book lightly; with all the reverence that she had been taught to treat it. Her dad adored books, and so he had taught his only daughter to love them as much as he did.

_The Fellowship of the Ring _By JRR Tolkien.

Tonks smiled widely and flipped through the pages of a most beloved book, to tell the truth, more of an old friend of sorts. It was paperback; beaten and bruised in a way that did not smack of neglect, but more of countless times that it had been read _through_- and countless places that it had been read _in_.

Her mind raced as memories flushed in- _A Shortcut to Mushrooms, The Long Expected Party _and so many other chapter names that she had known and loved.

Her fingers darted quite nimbly down the page, and anyone who knew her would have been sincerely amazed at the graceful way in which she touched the volume.

"You like the Muggle fictions?"  
Tonks jumped at Lupin's voice, and dropped the tome heavily and clumsily on the table- looking very guilty. He was standing in the doorway, regarding her once again with that gaze of half-interest. As if his curiosity had been aroused against his very will.

"I've been reading them for years." She picked the book carefully up off the table- "My dad, he loves these things, and it's hard not to be interested in something that your parent loves... you understand."

His face twisted slightly- uncovering glimpses of the stormy pot of emotions below.

"No. I do not."  
Tonks, who always despised her clumsiness in the real world, wanted to kick herself in the world of words. By his ill-concealed reaction, she grasped that he had not had a good relationship with his parents.

But when she finally braved the silence and brought her eyes to his face, it was once again as calm and unruffled as when he had been trading banter with Sirius.

Tonks handed the book to him- he took it, with the barest thankfulness in his eyes and something else... curiosity perhaps? Or maybe something more... friendly.

"You are a unique lady, Nymphadora Tonks."

And he was gone- with Tonks left to consider whether or not his last statement had been a compliment or a condemnation.

۞

**AN: So I finally realized that AN stood for Author's Note... wow... now I feel retarded...**

**Um, there aren't really any notes to give, um, if you have any questions and/or comments just post them. I'm always willing to answer and revise if needed.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Mmmk, so FINALLY I get the story to come out halfway decent, ah well- I rather enjoyed this section, I think you will too. And if you don't, well.... I really haven't got a clue... I would press the back button and attempt to find something that I actually liked... or you could cry.. but that seems a bit drastic to me... **

**You know the drill- read and review, make the redhead happy.**

**And Without any more absolute drivel from me, **

**Chapter 3, I think....**

۞

Tonks found herself staring off into space wondering when she had possibly fallen in love with him.

Drastic, you say, She's known him for barely a few months... it's a crush.

But she keeps reliving every moment together.... and not just to sigh and imagine how that could have gone just a _bit _better.

Reliving every moment just to think of being near him. Even the times when she looked like a fool in front of him- was still time spent _with_ him- learning about him, letting him learn about her. Made even more surprising by the fact that he seemed to be interested in anything she had to say.

She starts to realize that she enjoys talking to him; Testing his mental fortress, purposefully attempting to cause him to smile in surprise and delight when she mentioned something that he loved or that amused him.

Tonks was fascinated and possibly in love with a man that she had known for a little more than a month and far less than a year.

It became even more apparent the first time she used a Patronus Charm after meeting him.

One moment she was fighting off a small group of Dementors, feeling the thrill of battle race through her veins- she lifted her wand- summoning the most recent happy memory she had:

_A box of chocolates from Remus for no reason, he had shrugged awkwardly and told her that they helped if pretty much anything happened. To which Sirius begged to differ. "What if you lose your head?" He asked. Both Remus and Tonks ignored him as they shared a brief look._

_**Expecto Patronum! **_She roared

The next moment she was staring at a large wolf that had materialized from the end of her wand and regarded her with a wise stare.

Tonks swore loudly and gawked at the ethereal canine chasing off a few Dementors on her behalf.

It had always been a rather sassy Chameleon before, but this- _This_ proved that the attraction was a great deal more heartfelt that even _she_ had imagined. Tonks resolved not to produce a Patronus in front of any member of the Order if she could help it.

Sirius- who knew the two of them too well for words- had noticed this "Developing Friendship" first.

"You fancy Lupin don't you?" He'd asked one night as they were waiting for _anyone _to come and give them some outside world information.

It was amazing to Tonks that this kitchen, in the bottom of the manky house of Black would be the stage of some of her most memorable memories.

"_What_?"

She had exclaimed, sounding much more squeaky and guilty than she'd wanted. This had been followed by a trip over the door piece and a plate crashing in splendid noisiness to the ground.

To her great relief, Lupin himself remained asleep- head resting on his arms on the table.

Sirius grinned deeply, and Tonks almost wished that he were drunk. She could confuse him more easily when he had a few Firewhiskies warming his belly. He was just too dang smart when sober and reminded her _so _much of his Godson it wasn't even funny.

"You gave him the most startlingly soppy look as you came in the door... it was just adding two and two to make six after that."

He explained it with all the gentility of Sherlock Holmes himself. Tonks almost expected him to pull out a pipe and begin to smoke it and follow his pronouncement with, "Twas elementary my dear Tonks."  
"You're imagining things Sirius," She whisper-hissed "I don't know what the devil you're talking about."  
However she did know _exactly _what he was talking about, for as soon as she had entered the kitchen she had seen the werewolf -asleep on the table, completely knackered after a night of doing God-knows-what for the Order- and pity had scrabbled at her heart.

It had been the full moon on the last two nights, and although he'd told her that the Wolfsbane kept him from turning into a werewolf- she felt that he'd left out that fact that his body _wanted _to change, and to keep itself from that change was unnatural, and most likely, decidedly uncomfortable.

However, instead resting up and recuperating he merely looked like the walking dead for the few days on which the full moon chose to shine.

She'd considered getting him a blanket, or gently leading him to his bed.

Sirius had seen all of these ideas flashing through her brain... and he'd ruined all of them.

"I think you know _exactly _what I'm talking about. D'ya think that I haven't noticed all the flim-flannery that's been shooting across my house... you great, dozy cow." He called, in great humor. "I'd have to be blind not to notice."  
She'd been about to give a blindingly foul retort when the man in question stirred lightly.

"Padfoot you absolute toe-rag. I have no idea what you're talking about, but _clearly _you were talking too loudly because you've woken me up from a delicious dream about-" His eye cracked open and he abruptly changed tack "-Could you please take your sorry and most likely _drunk_ bum out of here, and continue the conversation in a room that is _not _occupied by a _very_ tired werewolf." He peeped an eye open and smiled at Tonks.  
"Night Tonks."

The auror grinned and waved in response; following Sirius out  
Sirius had quickly obliged the werewolf's request, but not without turning at the last second and quietly whispering.

"_Accio chair" _Back into the kitchen.

His swift moment did not go without profit, Black was rewarded with the crack of head on table and bum to floor. It was a rare thing to catch Remus off guard... but then, it was even more of a rare thing to call Sirius Black a toe-rag and get away with it.

Tonks winced, but appreciated her cousin's joke for what it was, a brilliantly executed bit of trickery. That was until they heard a murderous growl coming from the kitchen. Tonks instantly apparated to her bedroom- tripped over the ratty carpet and fell headlong into the bed. Laughing until her sides hurt.

Remus Lupin had a black eye for two weeks. Sirius had _two_.

**۞ **

It was among those two weeks when the atmosphere in the house began to change.

"Have you seen this yet?" Sirius asked suddenly one evening- after all of the young people now staying in the house had gone to bed.

Tonks eyed Sirius warily- know that he knew, he had been acting more and more obvious and embarrassing lately.

The coast seemed clear- Remus was sitting in his usual place by the table reading a new book, Molly and Arthur had just gone up to bed and Moody was somewhere _being vigilant._

"Seen what?" She asked cautiously.

"The Original Order." Sirius replied immediately- and the innocence in those words wasn't forced.

"You have a picture?" Tonks grinned suddenly and moved closer to Sirius to see the tatty piece of photograph held in his grimy hands.

"Oh don't show her that old thing- it's just depressing..." Lupin called from his chair- giving them a disapproving look over the book top.

"Quit being such an old fart Moony, and let the girl see" Sirius allowed the young Auror a closer look and was rewarded by a gasp of surprise.

"Bloody- Look at all of you!" She exclaimed- grinning down into the photograph in fascination. "Moody still has his nose- Molly and Arthur look exactly the same! Are those her brothers? That _must _be Harry's mum and dad- oh-" Her exultations were cut off suddenly as her eyes widened and she pulled the picture closer to get a better look.

"Look at how young you all were-"

Sirius sniffed loudly.

"We weren't all born looking like middle-aged men- except Moony of course." He laughed. Remus ignored him.

"Remus- you don't look middle-aged at all-" She said suddenly, staring down at the tousle-headed twenty-something man smiling happily up into the lens. "My _word,_ you were both good looking blokes back then-"  
"Were?" Sirius interrupted, looking a bit scandalized.

Tonks glanced back down at the picture.

"Well Remus is _still _rather good-looking." She said immediately, not even realizing what she'd said.  
Sirius choked on his coffee and began coughing loudly, whereas the werewolf simply turned the page in his book so hard it ripped the upper corner completely off. He began to swear inventively and very, _very _loudly.

"Well as long as we have _that _settled." Sirius muttered grouchily, while Tonks blushed and quickly changed the subject by making more comments about the other people in the photo.

**۞**

Harry and the rest were leaving in the morning, Tonks and Lupin had been chosen to see them off.

Sirius was even more antsy and depressing than usual and Kreacher was infinitely more surly.

It was in one of those _wonderful _days that Tonks found herself (once again)unable to sleep, in the kitchen. This time, attempting to do maintenance on her broom, which sorely needed it.

She heard him come downstairs- Everyone had spent enough time in each other's company to warrant an odd sort of comfort and recognition.

Tonks, who had always noticed that every person's walk was different- knew that shambling, thoughtful gait anywhere.

"Morning Remus" She called over her shoulder, knowing that Wotcher meant absolutely nothing to him.

Although to call it morning was an overstatement. It was barely past 5 AM

"Good morning Dora."

She had been right in guessing who it was...his hoarse voice seemed to make her name sound completely different without changing it at all.

Tonks felt herself involuntarily shiver and stiffen pleasurably almost dropping her broom in the process- the Auror only barely managed to keep it from hitting the floor by frantically diving for it, upsetting the shine that she had been planning to put over the handle, and covering herself in it.

Lupin stood in front of her- the almost empty broom-polish can in his large hand. He was smiling faintly and in good humor.

She sat in embarrassment- as Sirius' raspy laugh filled the room.

Tonks had been so intent on Lupin's walk that she had completely missed the easy-going, strut of the last surviving Black.  
"Don't I get a Hallo, _Dora?" _His emphasis on her name went unnoticed by Tonks, who was busy trying to clean up the broom shine, but Remus glared openly at his longtime friend, who grinned in response.

"Wotcher Sirius" Was the glum Auror's reply.

Sirius was smirking devilishly and moved to the stove- making tea, Muggle style.

He was in an excruciatingly bad mood- _and _he had two people who clearly were mad for each other under one roof, in complete denial.

It disgusted him.

Therefore, he must take matters into his own hands and push them towards each other. He just hoped that they would forgive him... eventually.

"So Tonks, you got a boyfriend?"

Tonks almost dropped her broom again and Lupin stiffened so suddenly that he looked as though he was made of stone.

"N-no Sirius. Not at the moment? Why? You lookin?" Tonks mentally blessed her ability to turn awkwardness into a joke; As it had saved her sorry hide on many occasions.

Sirius hadn't even turned from the teapot.

"If I were in the market for 3rd cousins Tonks, believe me, you'd be first on my list."

Tonks shook her head at the man's back and turned to her broom, hoping that Sirius would leave things well enough alone.

"What about you Moony?" He asked in that ingratiatingly innocent way that he'd mastered all those years ago.

"Since _when_ was my love life of any concern to you Sirius?"

Sirius rolled his eyes and ignored the question.

"You haven't had a girlfriend since, well, _forever_. And you know I worry about you, cause who knows when you won't have _me_ anymore- then you'll be all alone."  
"Sirius..." The werewolf began warningly, Tonks watched the poor man glance at her and then blush deeply and become more and more uncomfortable and embarrassed.

"He won't be alone." Tonks interrupted, absolute rage pouring through her voice; hair a fierce fiery red. "He has me- he has friends. He has you Sirius, if you weren't being such a pillock and..."

Something had snapped in her- heart or mind or whatever.

Tonks dropped the broom-

"And- I hope that he know that I will _always_ be here... for him."

She should have known that it wouldn't be as simple as the original plan of proving a point to Sirius. No, it was far more dangerous than that, a quick revelation of all of the things that she had been feeling for him for months was now coming to a head.

There they stood- Tonks' hair glowing a vivid red, but not the angry red color that she reserved for the twins and Moody- a different red. Softer and yet still more intense.

Remus had abandoned the pretense of reading and was staring open mouthed at the woman in front of him.

Sirius watched the two of them stare at each other for a second or two- then fled the room, completely unnoticed by the two.

"I did it to prove a point...." Tonks defended herself from across the table-

Her hair now an odd shade of yellow, with crimson stripes. "Sirius was being a Berk about things and I thought I'd put his foot in his mouth for him."

"You didn't need to defend me Tonks." He muttered, mouth now closed. He looked paler and more sober than usual. "Sirius was just in a bad mood and trying to get a rise out of me."  
"And did it?"

Suddenly, neither were sure that they were talking about what _Sirius_ had said.

That's when Harry walked through the kitchen door. Looking sleepy and depressed.

Lupin immediately turned his attention to the boy, and so Tonks made it her goal to stay as far away from him as she possibly could today. To avoid finishing that conversation for as long as they possibly could.

۞

Lupin stared at the long, narrow table- his eyes on the book in front of him- but he hadn't moved a page in minutes.

_This isn't right_. He thought irritably. _Tonks doesn't like guys like me- she goes for men with leather jackets and motorcycles- _(The fact that he'd never actually seen her with someone like that, was dismissed as irrelevant)

The werewolf stared down at his shabby tie and even shabbier Oxfords, and sighed, rubbing a hand through his gray-ish hair.

_Not to mention guys with amazingly cool heads around women, young and rich with a dashingly smart smile and most importantly- __**human**__._

There was a short moment where he pictured himself as all of those things... the young, smiling Auror on his arm.

It was a beautiful picture... but his logical (and generally snarky) mind refused to let it be.

Dream-Lupin tripped over his bike in an attempt to kiss Tonks and he hit the ground and knocked all of his teeth out.

_Ah well..._

Another soul crushing sigh...

He'd never had this much trouble with any of his friends since Hogwarts, and even then he could tongue-tie Sirius or James in seconds, while reading _War of the Worlds_

However with Tonks, he sincerely enjoyed her conversation and was able to carry on talks for hours at a time without laboring for thoughts.

He had to admit though, he hadn't expected her to be the woman that she was. The world-weary werewolf had expected her to be exactly the stereotype: flaky and ridiculous to the extreme.

So much for that....

No...things like _this_ didn't happen to him.

Girls like Nymphadora Tonks did not flirt with guys like him.... girls like Tonks did not say that they would _always _be there for someone like him, especially not with _that _look on her face.

_If there even _**was** _a look. _He thought moodily.

She should want someone that was young, and rich, and _whole._

This wouldn't do at all.

۞

**So the slightly awkward declaration of feelings was given by Tonks, because I can't see Lupin _ever _losing control of himself... or can I? Hmm... I feel a new chapter coming on.. haha**

**Clearly you liked _some _part of it, or you wouldn't be sitting here, reading my slightly insane author's note which actually has no _note _in it.**

**But that problem has been noted, and will be addressed at some point.**

**Well Anyway, review and tell me how awesome I am OR -if you're slightly sadistic- tell me how badly I bombed it.**

**Or if you just like to type things, that works too**

**All will be accepted as long as you keep it G-Rated. **

**The best insults don't need swearing... :-P **

**Ah well,**

**Red**


	4. Chapter 4

**So ya'll, this is one of the funnest chapters that i've had the privilege to write in a long time- sorry that it jumps from humor to slight-angst but I couldn't help it.**

**Especially Loud thanks to my new beta-reader/person etc. Alix33- without whom I would be lost in the unending maze of commas, semicolons etc etc- All of those things mystify and shock me- and so the crowd goes WILD**

**Ah well, without further Ado:**

**Chapter 4 **

۞

"How're you doing, Tonks?"

Tonks jumped at the sound of Sirius' voice - she forced herself to smile. His presence was a comfort - but not enough of a comfort to make her smile naturally.

"What are you talking about?" She asked - cursing inside at the overbrightness of her voice.

"Remus hasn't been here in days-"  
"Who?"  
Sirius rolled his eyes meaningfully, making Tonks laugh.

"Is it _that _obvious?"  
He nodded.

"To me at least it is. Molly's got an inkling - but between you and me, I think she may have psychic powers-"  
That got another laugh out of the sober Auror.

"Anyone else?" She asked worriedly.

"The kids don't - which is a blessing. And surprising, although I understand why - that bloody Umbridge woman is terrorizing them, so they're wrapped up their own drama - bless 'em. But most of the Order has an inkling - almost all of them know what's wrong with Remus, since we've known him since he wore tweed parachute pants."

Tonks frowned in confusion. Sirius nodded knowingly.

"Don't worry about it - suffice to say - James had the brilliant idea one summer in the 80's to live among the Muggles. No - you _don't _want to know - but yes - we know that Remus has _something _wrong, and Moody knows that something is up with you, but he's one that knows you better."  
"I'd say you were doing a pretty good job." Tonks replied kindly.

Sirius eyes took on the sad quality that seemed to plague the two Marauders that she knew- it was a look that tore at her soul.

"Aye, but I missed twelve years of getting to know the only niece that I would want to have anything to do with."

"That wasn't your fault."  
"I know that, but saying it doesn't change anything."

They sat, looking tired and sad together.

"Can you tell me about him?"

Sirius' brow wrinkled

"What do you mean?"  
"Well, you know - what is he really like? What was he like when he was young - all I ever hear is about you and James; how wild you were - all the trouble that James and you caused - but no one seems to remember Remus."  
Sirius laughed -

"Remus is one of the most intelligently humorous men that I've ever had the privilege to know - I feel bad now for overshadowing him in school - we were rotten little barmpots with no idea of what we were doing half the time - but - I digress... Don't _ever _let him tell you that he isn't dangerous. Once - and only once - I made him angry enough that he fought me. My bloody first mistake was the fact that I thought that he could only turn into a werewolf on a full moon - which _is _generally the rule - what neither of us realized is that he can force a change - if he's mad enough: enter Stupid Oaf AKA Sirius Black. I began mocking Remus' extreme lack of social skills and the fact that he may have never even kissed a girl before- which then proceeded to the question of whether or not he even _liked _girls..."

Dora coughed loudly as she took her drink of Butterbeer.

Sirius chuckled -

"I know, right - you look at Remus and you think - oh, the shabby little man with the hesitant expression - he's got to be one of those bookish type men who runs away from fights and reads poetry and whatnot. Which generally was true - he was taunted worse than Snape before James and I took up with him, he wasn't one to retaliate about anything and usually did the smart thing by walking away - probably because he had the foresight to know that if he got mad enough, he could probably kill the other guy....he also likes Keats, which disturbed all... But anyway, _I _actually thought all those things while goading him - I was in my fifth year - rather full of myself..."

"Shocking"

"Get stuffed Nymphadora, or I won't tell you my story."

Tonks mimed buttoning her lip and grinned.

"Well then - I imagined myself beating him soundly in his wolf form - and bragging loudly to James and Peter and being able to tell the ladies that I have single-handedly fought and destroyed a werewolf - albeit a small, pale werewolf that dressed like a middle aged man,"

"But when he finally snapped I was shocked - he punched me so hard, it broke my nose and split my mouth open. James punched like a girl - but you wouldn't expect _that_ of him - whereas Remus looked like he had the physical capacity of toast - and yet punched harder than I did. To my embarrassment, he beat me soundly, and as I lay - bleeding profusely from my face lying flat on the floor - he completely undermined the impressiveness of the feat of beating up Sirius Black, by _apologizing_ to me. He looked a little wolfy, which worried me even further since I was at a disadvantage - being mortally wounded on the floor - and helped me stand up and took me to Madame Pomfrey who had the temerity not to ask what had happened. Neither of us told James - and the excuse was that I'd gotten drunk and tried to cut the Whomping Willow down (which sounds like something I'd do) and Remus had stopped me and saved my life. Peter applauded us; James didn't believe a word of it, but couldn't ever get us to spill the story of what really happened that day in the Gryffindor common room."

"I realize now, how fortunate we were, that Remus never allowed himself to reach his full potential. He was one of the most brilliant students ever to go through Hogwarts - or so Dumbledore says- _and_ he was a werewolf. If he would have been like James or I - _with _those qualities - _we_ would have been _his_ lackeys, but no - we ribbed and bothered him and forced him to stay with us all those years. He got back at us though - in his own way - by insulting our extreme stupidity and using words that confused and generally ticked us off. He was exactly as he is now - completely disinterested in life because it treated him shabbily. I think that Remus could go be a hermit and be quite happy with himself. He only stays because we won't let him leave, because we know what he doesn't: We can't bear to live without him."

Tonks understood the last Black - despite his slight rambling and random barking laughter interjected into his haphazard story. She understood exactly what he meant. And it depressed her - because Sirius knew and loved _her_ Remus and he wasn't tired of him.- Tonks loved him in a completely different way and would _never _get over him.

"I know that he's asked for jobs that keep him out of the house."  
Sirius jerked his head up.

"That doesn't necessarily have anything to do with you - he could just be tired of Grimmauld Place's lovely decor."

Looking at the skanky basement/kitchen that they were sitting in; his option could actually be plausible... sadly enough.

Sirius took on his cousin's gloomy face - he had developed a soft spot for the young woman.

Who knew that he would lose twelve years of his life - and within two, gain a larger family than he'd had before he'd left.

"I'll work on him."  
Slight panic passed over her face.

"No - don't. It's really not worth pressing him. I just wish that he'd stop avoiding me."  
"Don't worry Tonks." He replied - patting her cheek like her dad does. "I won't do anything that you would have to worry about. Just attempt to talk some sense into him - and get him to stop hiding from happiness."

Tonks leaned over at hugged Sirius tightly - thanking him for being there for her - when she needed someone the most.

"Hey Sir- Oh..."  
The Auror whirled to find Remus Lupin standing in the doorway, for all the world looking like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Sorry, didn't realize I was interrupting-"  
He fled the doorway - Tonks sighed again and placed her hands in her head; feeling defeated.

"Don't worry..." Sirius called- patting her on the shoulder as he made his way out the door. "I'll fix things."  
Tonks hoped to God that the stubborn werewolf would believe him.

۞

"Remus-"  
"_Why_ would you do that to me?"

Sirius found himself slammed against the wall of Lupin's small Grimmauld Place room, staring into the eyes of an enraged werewolf. Sirius thought ironically that this was delightfully similar to the story that he'd just shared with his poor-lovestruck cousin/niece person. This struck him as hilarious for some reason- either that, or oxygen deprivation was turning his already wonky brain to mush.

"Remus..." He gagged - beginning again, but apparently his old friend wasn't really looking for answers.

"You _know _how I feel about her. You had your fun the other day - so _why_ would you do this? Just to pull a rise out of the werewolf? IS THIS A SODDING _GAME_TO YOU?"  
"You know." Sirius choked out. "If you'd let me explain, this would make a lot more sense."  
Lupin nodded and waited.

"I... could explain...... easier... if you weren't...... choking me.... to death."  
Remus looked surprised at the sight of his hands around his longtime friend's throat. He released Sirius instantly.

Sirius massaged his red throat gingerly.

"Firstly - I was not chatting her up - she had just asked me some advice, I gave it to her. And she _hugged_ me. Hugged me like she would her father, you jealous tosspot."

Remus sat down on his bed and leaned his head against the wall.

"Secondly - I would _never _do something like that to you. Moony, you don't do this as often as James and I did. Why do you think we never chatted up the girls that you showed interest in? Cause we wanted you to have some sort of _normal _school life. _Thirdly, _even if I would have been doing what you thought - what right would you have to be jealous? You sort of _jilted _her. Broke her heart is more like it. Don't get her hopes up by being jealous, you've hurt her enough already this year."  
Remus Lupin returned the gaze of his oldest friend, feeling ashamed and the after affects of a rage that he could only associate with his changes into a werewolf.

"I'm sorry, Padfoot," he said finally. "I really didn't even think. I just saw you two together and lost my head... it won't happen again."  
Sirius smiled faintly- gazing out the window into the world that he wasn't allowed to be part of.

"Lost your head, Remus? You were on the verge of strangling me and eating my spleen."

Lupin chuckled and shook his head.

"Yes well, I would have come to my senses eventually."

"Tell that to my spleen," argued Sirius. "And you're sure you don't feel anything for her?"  
The sudden change of topic struck the werewolf off guard for a split second- nevertheless he recovered himself quickly enough.

"No Sirius. I don't. I _can't."_

Sirius sighed and pulled a bottle of Firewhiskey out of somewhere and uncorked it.

"Here's to old times, and huge denials."  
Remus took the bottle

"It's not denial. It's truth."  
Sirius took an even larger gulp than his friend and sat down on the chair beside the bed, feeling his mind begin to slip into a beautiful, numb state.

"Well, this time the truth isn't good enough."

۞

"Now this is something that you must swear not to tell anyone, not _ever._Unless it all works out- then you can take partial credit."  
Fred and George Weasley regarded Sirius Black with twin looks of sympathetic confusion.

People in insane asylums across the world were given the same look when they acted out of the ordinary.

"Don't look at me like I'm a nutter!" He shouted; slapping them both soundly across the backs of the heads and swearing vehemently.

They grinned at the familiar words and tuned in.

"Alright Uncle Sirius," said Fred.

"We're listening," finished George.

Sirius grinned, suddenly young again.

"You'd better be - and don't call me Uncle Sirius... it sounds like an elderly adjective."  
The twins laughed and agreed.

"It's about Remus and Tonks..."  
"What about them?" interrupted the twins.

"Well if you'd let me finish a bloody sentence you'd know."  
They put on their best serious faces and nodded soberly.

"Remus and Tonks...." The man thought about the best way to put it. "Well, they've got a problem similar to the one that your brother and Hermione have."  
Both twins moaned in unison.

"Oh lord, not _that..._"

Sirius nodded.  
"I'm afraid so, boys."

"It isn't _completely _unexpected..." said Fred, to the surprise of Sirius

"This is true- it is a bit ironic actually..."

"Like some humorous coupling in a complicated and multi-volumed series..."

Sirius cleared his throat - feeling that this conversation could go on for an endless amount of time.

"What do you need us to do?"  
Sirius sat down and resisted the urge to empty out the Butterbeer in his glass and replace it with some good old Firewhiskey. However, the thought of Molly Weasley coming downstairs to find him drinking in front of her sons stopped him. Mostly because he didn't think he could sit still through one of her famous lectures.

"I need you two to keep on trying to get them together - in case something were to happen to me."  
The boys looked grave at that thought - but a look of steely determination that they _must _have inherited from their uncles came into their eyes. He had their word within instants and when they promised him - he _knew _that they would follow through.

Fred and George - thinking back to this time _after _the incident in the Ministry and the loss of Sirius through the veil - realized that Sirius may have had some idea of what was to come.

They of course, dismissed this idea as ridiculous.

How _could _he have had _any _idea of his own death?

Now, if they would have asked Remus Lupin he would have suddenly recalled the Marauder's lessons in Divination - how James always had a lightning bolt in his Tea Leaves (which he thought was rather cool actually), Peter had the image of a rat, and an open hand (which just confused him dreadfully), Remus had what looked like a wolf which was surrounded by a circle - the tea oozed some pink gas which disappeared in an instant. (Their teacher at the time had no idea what the pink gas was - but she had been quite sure that the circle represented that he would continue in the great circle of life - which meant either a birth ("offspring?" asked James laughingly "_Hairy_ offspring?" Or it meant a death - most likely his own - she had added ominously) and Sirius had gotten the sign of peace and a grim - and what looked like curtains. (James never stopped ribbing him that he would have a peaceful death... by drapery. Whereas their teacher had muttered that she'd never seen a grim and the sign for peace in the same cup - and that most likely the peace part was wrong - and that he'd have a horrible death by some sort of curtains.)

But the twins didn't ask - and Remus was never called upon to remember that particular day in Divination Class so many years ago.

So that part of the story was merely for _your benefit_, all you readers.

"Can't we just lock them in a broom cupboard and tell them that they're not allowed to come out until they've kissed and made up?" George wanted to know - speaking of Remus and Dora  
"Tried it with Ron and Hermione once when she was staying at our house during summer holiday..." Fred added seamlessly

"Granger cursed my eyebrows off and neither of them would speak to us for three weeks..."  
"They were three _glorious _weeks - but Georgie here missed his eyebrows."  
George _did_ looked a bit regretful.

"Fred, they've just grown back completely this year..."  
Sirius held up a hand and laughed until his sides hurt.

These boys could have been himself and James in their Hogwarts days. It was a little eerie.

"If a girl barely starting her 5th year can do _that _much damage - imagine what an angry Auror and Werewolf could be capable of?"

The twins blanched.

"Okay, so the broom cupboard is a bad plan."

Sirius chuckled.

"You may have to come up with something a bit more...devious."

At that moment in time, Fred and George Weasley looked as if they could be the patron saints of Deviousness.

All three heard tramping steps on the kitchen stairs and Sirius made to stand and exit the room - not relishing a possible chat with Snape.

The twins looked as if they'd had the same thought, but they chose to stay, in favor of possibly learning about the Order's "Secret" plans.

"And boys..." Sirius called as he slipped onto the stairs. "Good work with Umbridge."

Both boys beamed at him.

"Come by and visit us sometime..." said Fred.

"Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes will be open by the end of next month..."

"...And we'll even give you a free trial of our newest idea: U-No-Poo."

Sirius tried to pretend that he hadn't heard that last bit - feeling much happier today. Safe in the knowledge that his plans were passed on to the next generation.

۞

Then Sirius had gone and gotten himself killed, leaving his Godson a complete grieving mess, and The Order the closest thing to family that he had.

The night Harry had left to go back to Hogwarts after the incident at the ministry was when everything changed

۞

Tonks caught her friend - sitting in the kitchen, a plate of warmed up dinner in front of him; untouched.

Remus hadn't left the upstairs of Grimmauld Place since that fateful night, Tonks now knew that he had been sneaking down during the night to eat. If he _had _been eating. She saw that he looked thinner than usual.

The werewolf hadn't heard her come in; she was glad for it. If he would have heard her, he would have immediately changed into Remus Lupin, strong Member of the Order of the Phoenix.

Fate smiled on her, and it was not until she sat down on the chair closest to him that he noticed her presence.

Remus tensed, but said nothing. She didn't press him; he found solace in her just being near.

"I'm the last, you know," he said dully, looking out onto the dismal view of Grimmauld Place's gray street. "The last Marauder to haunt this forsaken earth." His voice was laced with bitterness.

The auror took a chance, and placed her hand gently on his back, rubbing in careful, relaxing circles.

"Tell me about them," she commanded - knowing that he needed some sort of release. Something that would keep him from losing his mind with grief. Tonks understood.

He leaned forward, holding his own shoulders in unspoken heartache - shuddering as tears fell from his eyes.

Tonks let him cry for several minutes, unsure of what she should do - or more correctly - what he would _let _her do.

She knew what she _wanted _to do, but she wasn't sure what he would take from her.

The past few weeks had been terrible - even the slightest touch threw them both into an uncomfortable set of sentences that involved words like.

"Good weather we're having."

And

"So the twins have a betting pool on how long Snape goes without washing his hair..."

Then they would speed away in opposite directions barely refraining from breaking into a dead run.

_Oh sod it all_... she thought, putting her arm around him, amazed at how skinny he had gotten in the last few weeks.

Lupin seemed to take strength in her touch. He took a single, deep, shuddering breath and began to speak.

"James - he was always the boss, the guy that everyone went to for everything. He exuded confident leadership. Harry is a lot like him in that respect. People gravitate toward his command and nobody knows quite why.

Now Sirius - Sirius, was the complete opposite of James, he was cool and always at ease. Even when he was just sitting or standing he was just plain _cool_. _Everyone_ idolized him, the girls were nuts after him. But he only had eyes for the next plan that James came up with. A bored Sirius was a dangerous Sirius. If James had nothing in his mind for us to do, then Sirius took it upon himself to think of something. That something usually ended with one of us in the Hospital Wing and then the Headmaster's office, or vice versa, depending on how lenient Dumbledore was feeling at the time, _Or, _how long it had been between pranks..."

Remus managed a teary laugh as memories rushed through his mind; then continued.

"Sirius always regretted his actions - most often the entirety of _Hogwarts _regretted his actions." Remus smiled ruefully beneath the tears. "Sirius could have easily been our leader because even at his most bossy, James listened to what Sirius had to say. But I think that Padfoot loved the time out of any type of limelight and left James to run our little group however he wished.

It was Peter and I that no one understood: we weren't the Marauding type. James and Sirius practically oozed adventure and rebellion; I was boring Remus Lupin: The-Boy-Who-No-One-Remembered- In fact, when I started hanging about with them, they would introduce me as Moony - and when the various Gryffindor students would look at me with no recognition at all, Sirius would pipe in

"It's Remus Lupin!"

He did always seem to shout at the worst times.

And the people we were talking to would look worried and glance over their shoulder in fear, because, of course, they'd all heard of the Werewolf boy who'd almost killed Severus Snape - or, on the off chance, _someone _would recall that I wasn't just a werewolf and they'd say something like

"Oh- the prefect-" or "I remember him, he tutored me in Arithmancy" and "Oh that bloke with no sense of humor."  
After that last comment James and Sirius took it upon themselves to teach me to have a sense of humor."

Remus sighed deeply.

"That was the longest month of my life. It was the weirdest month of the seven years that we were all in Hogwarts: made so, because they were all so intent on making me stand out even just a little bit. They didn't play any tricks _or_ poison Lucius Malfoy for the entire month, so everyone walked about in a sort of daze, waiting for the school to blow up or something while James and Sirius taught me to joke."

Tonks began to laugh uproariously at Remus' face.

"Oh yeah - it's very funny to you - but you don't realize what they were like. After a month they gave up and said that I was a helpless case. About a week later I got irritated with Sirius and informed him that he couldn't make fun of Snape because his name was nothing more than two glorified adjectives."

James actually fell off of his broom and Sirius stopped eating his pudding. Peter - well, Peter just watched in fascination."

Remus smirked fondly and his eyes were filled with the pain of a thousand memories.

"Up until I met them I didn't have an adventurous bone in my body. I think the original fascination with Remus John Lupin was the fact that I was the only werewolf boy at school. James always told me that he was slightly jealous of my super ability although I never did quite believe him. At first I ignored their attention: I was only there to get through Hogwarts and try to pretend that I wasn't a monster. But James and Sirius wouldn't let it up. I gave in and managed to become the sole conscience of our group. It's a miracle that they all got out of school alive." His smile was very faint and nostalgic. "I like to think that I am the reason that they didn't end up murdering Slytherins and using the Imperius Curse on teachers.

Tonks laughed in appreciation, enjoying the feeling of him so comfortable near her.

"Sounds like you lot were absolute terrors in your day."  
Lupin's pensive face lessened slightly.

"Lord yes... we were the worst storm ever to hit the rock that is Hogwarts... Dumbledore told me that he's never had any like us since. Though he did say that the Weasley Twins were boys after the Marauders' hearts." His face softened.

"Sometimes..." his voice caught, and he paused for a long time before continuing, "Sometimes, I think about what could have happened if Voldemort had never risen. If James and Lily had lived to see Harry grow up; if Sirius never went to Azkaban. He might have continued the line of Black, might have found the happiness that so often was denied him." Remus shuddered as the memories flushed through him. "It almost killed Sirius when James and Lily were killed. That's the only way that he would have ever gotten caught and sent to Azkaban. He was so struck with grief and rage at Peter's betrayal." The werewolf sighed. "We all were. Shock doesn't even begin to describe what we experienced when Dumbledore told us that James and Lily were dead." He sighed as the melancholy became too much. "What could have been for them is almost too much to think about." He whispered.

"And what about you?" Asked Tonks. "What could you have had, if You-Know-Who hadn't risen?"  
"Nothing." He said shortly.

"My life's dreams were curtailed before Voldemort rose. In fact - as sad as it is - I've probably had a more eventful life than I ever would have without Voldemort. But..." he added quickly. "I would rather my friends be alive. I would rather Lily and James to be waiting for their third child to be born and Sirius to be like he was before Azkaban ravaged him of his youth and happiness than ten such lives filled with adventure."

"You would give up all this?" she asked, motioning toward the dank and stale room with the water stains and the layers of filth.

The pain in his face lessened slightly - he enjoyed irony as much as she did.

The Auror added quietly. "You have more to live for _now _than you realize."

Lupin pulled away from her suddenly - his face shuttered from emotion.

"How old are you Tonks?" he asked shortly

She answered the out-of-the-blue question almost immediately.

"Twenty-one," she answered, her brow wrinkling at the topic change.

"_I,_am thirty-eight this year," He muttered, the words tumbling out of him. "Seventeen years. That's a large gap."  
Like a bolt from heaven she saw where this was going.

"I've heard worse: besides, thirty-eight doesn't exactly bring to mind dentures and rest homes."

Becoming serious he said:

"Dora, I have nothing in life _but _The Order and what it stands for. Without it, I am merely another Werewolf. Doomed to live in a world that knows and fears, and wants nothing to do with me." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "The Marauders gave me a life when I would have had nothing else. And even now, now that everyone I ever cared about has been stripped away from me, I am left with the Order. It is the only duty that I have been given in this life."  
Tonks saw this as the veiled warning that it was.

Lupin was telling her that the Order and the Marauders were the only things that he had ever cared about and that he had lost the Marauders, and now only had the Order to think of.

"Remember, I work for the Order too, Remus. It _is_ something worthy of devoting your life to. But it's not something that you have to sacrifice your life and happiness to..."  
"_I am a werewolf,_ Tonks." He had reverted to her last name out of exasperation. "I could kill you as soon as look at you. My life is not my own and my own people shun me. I have no right to ask anyone to share in my burdens."

For some reason, his pious martyrdom enraged her.

"You know; I don't even pity you," she spat venomously. "You're afraid of getting close to someone, you're afraid of hurting people, you're afraid of what people will say about two such different people finding each other mutually attractive? You're afraid of _everything, _and _what_ do you have to lose, Remus? You're a bloody werewolf! And a stupid one at that. To think that I actually fancied myself _in love_ with you..."

"In love with me?" The werewolf looked utterly shocked, which was an extremely unnatural expression for the usually bemused werewolf.

"YES, BLOODY WELL IN LOVE WITH YOU" Tonks roared, looking more angry by the second.

"Well- it _is _natural that you would seek out someone in this extreme case, after being cooped up for so long. And since most of the men are either related to you or married, or just far too old..." He trailed off, staring into space. He stood at some point during this tirade and was standing with his back to the table,- refusing to look at her. "You would find someone on which to convey your feelings, possibly overthink them, turning your crush out of boredom into a imagining of love. Besides, you're half my age;of course I would _never_ be attracted to you"

He was analyzing this, explaining it to her, although he seemed to be speaking more to himself than anyone else.

"C-C-CRUSH?" She stuttered with rage. "BORED?" She turned to the door and locked it tightly with a shouted spell.

"Don't do this, Tonks," he demanded- a slight edge of worry to his voice. She was known as one of the most dangerous new Aurors out there. There _had _to be a reason for this type of reputation.

He pulled himself from the table and moved to the door, wrenching it hard.

"Unlock the door, Tonks,." he murmured/commanded

"No," she responded, coming to stand directly across from him.

"Let me leave,Tonks..." he whispered.

"I _do _love you, Remus."

He repressed a shudder at the tone of voice that she said his name, choosing instead to treat her like he would a student: If you said what you wanted them to believe enough times then eventually they would agree.

"No you don't. You feel nothing for me just as I feel nothing for you," he said patiently.  
"Kiss me, then," she prompted- the opposing sides of her mind arguing.

The Nymphadora side said that this was perhaps the stupidest thing she'd ever done...

While the punk rocker, pink haired side pointed out that _this _was exactly why her life was so interesting as of yet.

Both sides were brought to attention by Lupin's answer.

"_What_?"

Punk-rock side was unimpressed.

I told you so, said the Nymphadora side of her brain.  
"You've told me that you don't feel that way about me. Kiss me and prove it."  
He sighed.

Which Tonks knew was a great sign: If he hadn't said no that meant that he was at least considering.

"Tonks, I..."  
"Hesitating only proves that you do feel something for me. Afraid again, are we, Remus?"

She was calling his bluff and he knew it; it was killing him to hurt her like this. But it was worth it, right? Worth it to have her treat him with this cold, unfeeling tone for the rest of her life?

If you do this, and there's truly nothing between us, I promise that I'll unlock the door and we never have to speak about this again." Something in her eyes rang with desperation and honesty, although it was much more likely the sheen of three glasses of Firewhiskey beginning to burn her stomach.

Ah, liquid courage.

He hesitated again; quite torn with emotion and something not quite as definable.

Then, coming to some sort of decision, he gently and tentatively cupped her chin in his hand. Tonks felt the callouses on his palms just barely brush her skin.

He was staring down into her face. Now that they were close he seemed to be suddenly fascinated by her. Not noticing how her hair had gone that odd, hazy, red again.

Remus brought his lips down close, pausing just a hairsbreadth away from hers, and kissed her so lightly and chastely that he thought for a moment that he had gotten away with it. Maybe he had truly talked himself into not feeling for her.

However the fates had a different plan: Both felt a shock had run through their collective bodies as the kiss was quickly ended.

Lupin had paused again, just above her: His eyes swimming with inner fire; struck by what he _had _felt.

Tonks reached her hands up behind his head and pressed her lips to his once more as he almost pulled away. It was her last ditch effort.

Another jolt of electricity, this one much more powerful than the last, caused them to lose themselves in time and space and for the barest of an instant become oblivious to the world around them.

His hands had moved unconsciously to her waist and she abruptly found him devouring her lips in a wild and hungry manner. She returned the favor earnestly.

She refused to unlace her hands from behind his head, forcing him to crane his neck in order to kiss her, sampling her mouth like you would a fine wine, or more likely in his case, a fine chocolate. He lingered at each point in the most maddening manner.

The calmest of the Marauders seemed to be ignoring the reluctant side of himself and completely giving into the man who fought off Dementors without blinking and battled Death Eaters with blasé indifference, often to the worry and chagrin of Tonks.

Shifting her weight, Tonks grabbed the front of his shirt tightly, pulling him down atop her. He cradled her face in his hands.

They swayed on the spot, unwilling to take breaths, not wanting to let _this _end.

This continued for some time. Tonks ignored the Punk Rocker in her brain cheering like a madwoman.

Even the Nymphadora side seemed a little out of breath.

But such a wonderful thing was not to last and even the fates couldn't manage to keep them together like this forever.

Lupin forced himself away from her; she was immediately bereaved by his absence. It showed in her face and tore at his soul.

"See?" he said, his pupils dilated, breathing shallow, voice lower than usual "N-nothing at all."  
And he barged past her into dark recesses of Grimmauld place, leaving them both alone to their grief.

۞

The kettle sang loudly as the water began to boil. Remus Lupin jumped, seizing the blistering light blue teapot without thinking.

Lupin swore loudly, dropping the kettle on the floor and rubbing his fingers against his legs in a failing attempt to stop them burning.

Against his will, he thought of Tonks. She had been severely impressed with his vocabulary- he had informed her that when you grow up with boys like James Potter and Sirius Black there is very little left to the imagination and no one escapes with naiveté, or even the _pretense_ of innocence.

She always wanted him to tell her stories about his years as a Marauder; Remus would always attempt deny her the privilege of invading the depraved minds of he and his three friends.

As if he could deny her _anything_.

Sirius had been far less careful and Lupin was always finding himself caught between them, with her grinning face staring up into his and asking him about a specific incident that would most often, bring shock and embarrassment to the werewolf's face.

Sirius would go off into barking gales of laughter (you know the sound) and Remus would glare at him in that peculiar way where you can tell that he's attempting not to laugh himself, Lips quirking in opposite directions as if willing him to laugh and scowl at the same time.

He and Sirius were rarely apart in those last few months and Tonks learned to play them against each other and learn every story that they would tell.

Although, some stories even Sirius wouldn't tell; not because they were full of the lewd exploits of 11 to 17 year-old boys, but because they were those precious memories that no one had the right to know about.

Because the four of them had been the closest of comrades; the best of friends.

Now he was the only one left.

Yes, there was Peter. But Peter had left the Marauders' league many years ago and he would never be able to return.

Lupin was beginning to realize that the grief and betrayal that he felt over his friends who had died or were lost to him would _never _go away.

Remus felt that he aged every time something like this happened. If Sirius were here, he would've agreed with him.

The worst part was the fact the he'd driven away the only other person who had made him feel like he _belonged _again.

Lupin sighed and whispered a healing spell over his already blister-covered palm. Not much happened: he may be normally good with most spells, but healing magics were not his forte.

Possibly for the first time in his life, he wished that Snape were near so that he could make one of those Murtlap Essence things. Snape was perhaps the last tie to the Hogwarts that Remus had known.

The boy had been their constant enemy all those years ago.

Snape was still as intricately woven into those seven years as the four of them had been. Perhaps Lupin could befriend the man; undo the past wrongs.

The thought of the bat-like man with the sneering face and cold eyes popped into the werewolf's head-

He grimaced

Things weren't _that _bad yet.

۞

**Of course you loved it- it may even be your new favorite for all time- and even if it wasn't- you still feel the odd and uncontrollable urge to review. **

**Shower me with praise, or constructive criticism, or both.**

**As always, I hope you enjoyed it, I also hope that you come back for the next chapter :-)) have a good day, night, whatever**

**Red**


	5. Chapter 5

Alright ya'll i know that you've waited ever so patiently for this chapter, and i just want to say that it's the DocX's fault.

With that said i would like to thank my wondrous Beta Reader Alix33, without whom i would be lost forever in the maze of incorrect punctuation. She is officially dubbed the Wizard Of Correctness :-P

And without further ado, i give you the last chapter of Realizations Of A Subtle Nature

۞

It was odd that he loved her.

He had realized that he liked her as a friend just weeks after meeting her.

Then he had realized that it was a More-Than-Friends attraction after she'd told him that her favourite TV show was Star Trek.

He had realized her loved her much more gradually than the other two. It was somewhere after she'd defended him in front of Sirius and before he had attacked his friend in a jealous rage. However, for the life of him, he couldn't tell when it had actually happened.

Love was a strange thing. It confused and astounded him. He couldn't grasp or see it and yet it was the most powerful thing that he had ever experienced in his life.

A memory sprang suddenly from wherever memories live, stored away until the moment when they are usually least needed.

"_I love her." James had announced, and the other three boys sitting in the Gryffindor common room had shared looks of familiar knowledge. _

_James was "in love" pretty much every other week up until he'd met Lily. _

_Now, he only had eyes for her. _

_Sirius was beginning to get concerned about his best mate._

"_Listen, Prongs, we know she's good-looking. But she's a bit like an elephant. Pretty to look at, but deadly to get near." _

_Sirius was positive of this: He was sixteen and of course was quite sure that he knew just about __**everything**__ there is to know about girls_

"_And she hates you." Peter added unhelpfully._

_Lupin barely looked up from the book he was reading._

"_Lily Evans is nothing like an elephant, you stupid plonker." James retorted vehemently._

"_Well I was going for a good metaphor, you didn't like my last one about goats and the Defense Against Dark Arts Teacher."_

_Lupin sighed "That would be because none of us wanted that particular mental picture burned into our brains, __**neither**__ of those things has anything to do with goats....__**or **__The Dark Arts"  
Sirius frowned. "I guess not. But you're the one that's always yelling at us about not listening about writing and stuff... so I was trying."  
"I told you to use semicolons and to attempt to read Byron!"  
"You also told me that I was a brainless wastrel."_

"_**You**__ had just informed the entire class that I'd gotten distracted yesterday and walked into the girl's bathroom."  
"But a wastrel?"_

_Remus grinned. "I was reading Shakespeare that day."  
"I do really love Lily." James continued steadfastly, although the other three had moved on from that minutes ago._

_Both Remus and Sirius turned to stare at him. Peter merely watched with an expression of rapt interest, as usual._

"_How do you know?" they'd asked in unison._

"_I just know. When it happens to you, you'll understand."_

_This was met with thoughtful silence, until Sirius barked a laugh and said:  
"Steady on, James, I think that's just all the treacle tart and pumpkin juice you scarfed down, reacting badly in your lower quadrants."_

"_I think you're both wastrels." James informed them with a sniff._

_Remus shook his head._

"_You don't even know what that is, you idiot."_

Well, turns out James was right. Now Lupin knew.

He understood for the first time in his life what he had lost.

۞

After Snape betrayed them, they sat in the large office that had been Dumbledore's domain up until that night.

She and Lupin had barely spoken that year.

Remus was guilty about the way that she had been acting. Her face was pale and drawn and her hair remained a mousy brown. There was none of the verve and vitality about her that he had known and loved.

When they had been called to Hogwarts so suddenly they had been thrown together without a thought about their previous.... issues.

But then in the quiet of Harry explaining what had happened, his gaze had been drawn inexplicably to her face. Even in grief she was beautiful.

No... He was over her. There was no reason for such thoughts.

Right?

۞

Tonks felt like her world was falling down around here. Death and Betrayal were the only things that she could register. In the sanctuary of Dumbledore's office however, reality started to force its way into her thoughts.

Taking in the entire room within a second her eyes fell upon him. Her heart raced uncomfortably. She had sworn not to let him affect her like this, but apparently she wasn't as _over _him as she'd thought.

There he was: He looked tired and he was grieving She knew him well enough to see past the facade that he gave off. Tonks wanted to go hug him, comfort him, tell him that she was here, and that it was going to be okay.

But no...She was over him. This was nothing more than a friend being worried about another friend.

They were over each other.

Right?

۞

The twins had been called _many _things, and most of those things couldn't be repeated in mixed company.

However, they had never been called stupid.

Well, actually they had. But that had been completely untrue.

Both boys took in the argument happening in front of them, and everyone else, between their favourite furry friend and their resident Metamorphmagus.

Fred looked at George, who was looking back at Fred, with looks of twin epiphany.

Their promise to Sirius rang in their minds simultaneously.

"George, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

The twin in question nodded happily.

"It seems that we've been reneging a bit on our promises..."  
"...And you know what Dad's always saying about our word being our bond..."  
"...made even more important by the fact that Weasley _never _go back on a promise."

Smirks found their ways to the boys' faces as they watched the two people in question storm out of the room.

"So, who do you think we should work on?" Asked George.

"Mmmm.... well, poor Tonks is apparently not the one standing between them and the beginning of a beautiful friendship"  
"Lupin it is."  
Fred's face became slightly maniacal.

"But how to bring about the sudden change of heart in our furry Friend's agenda?"

"Subterfuge?"  
They nodded at one another.

"Of course."

The beginnings of a plan were already forming in each of their brains.

"Do you think they'll forgive us?"  
Fred thought for a second.

"Eventually."

۞

Somewhere in heaven, in a shady spot underneath a willow tree next to a lake.

A spot that looked surprisingly like another spot in another time, sat three men.

"Told you they'd remember." said a dark haired man with snapping eyes.

Another man who looked shockingly similar to the first grunted his agreement.

The third let out a barking laugh and handed over three Galleons.

۞

"What do you _mean_ she's moving to Romania?"  
Neither Weasley had ever seen Lupin looking so shocked and flustered. He'd always been the Uncle that could beat them at Wizard's chess without batting an eye, the Uncle who was neither afraid or nor intimidated by their mother. Who laughed in the face of hoards of Arithmancy and had helped tutor them through any problem that they had at the new shop. But this - _this_ threw him.

"Well, when Charlie came to visit a few weeks ago, they sort of rekindled an old flame..."

"...And he asked her to come with him until he came to live permanently in England..."  
"...You know, with the war and all..."

"...and she said that she had no reason not to."

The twins managed to keep their faces deadly serious.

Lupin eyed them suspiciously.

"Why are you telling _me _this?"

They shrugged innocently. Which should have been his first clue. Innocent and The Twins _do not _go together.

"We thought you two were friends..."

"...and since you've been out of the loop for a while..."

"...we just thought you'd want to know."

Lupin seemed to take this reason to be the truth.

_His second mistake,_

"When is she leaving?" he asked, unable to keep the slight panic out of his voice.

"As soon as she can get packed-"  
"...she's at The Burrow right now..."

"...saying goodbye to everyone..."

"...she says that she thinks it will be good to get away..."

"-mum says that she thinks that Charlie and Tonks are perfect together..."  
"...and that it'll be a good time for her to get over this weird mood that she's been in since she was in the hospital."

Lupin's eyes widened and his face seemed to go slack.

The boys were worried for a second that he might be having some sort of attack.

"Are you sure?" he asked suddenly. His words were clipped and unnaturally loud.

The twins shrugged in unison.

"Pretty sure, we left The Burrow just a bit ago, Mad-Eye was saying goodbye, he looked a bit teary and told her not to forget to be vigilant even though she was going to be in a sleepy backwater like Romania..."  
"...Charlie didn't quite like that comment."

Lupin began pacing.

He stopped- facing the nearby window with resolution.

"Excuse me, boys." he said suddenly, turned once and disapparated.

Fred and George stood in surprise.

"That was easier than we thought," said Fred finally.

"Who knew that Sirius was right?" George agreed with a grin.

They grew suddenly serious, remembering the man that they had loved and respected so deeply.

"You wanna go drop dungbombs from the roof?" said one

"In Sirius' memory?"  
"Of course."

Somewhere in Romania a poor unsuspecting Weasley was delivered a scarlet letter.

_Oh lord, h_e thought depressedly, while wrapping his newest dragonfire-burn with specially treated gauze. _What have I done to mum now?_

However, it was not Mrs. Weasley's voice that roared out of the howler, it was a man's. And he sounded distinctly enraged.

"ALRIGHT YOU BLOODY REDHEADED TWIT!!" it roared, almost flattening Charlie. "I DON'T CARE IF YOU LOVE HER OR NOT - SHE'S MINE - AND YOU CAN JUST GO..."

A dragon roared near the house, effectively muting out all sound for several seconds.

"AND I SWEAR I'LL KILL YOU IF ANY OF THOSE DRAGONS HURTS ONE PINK HAIR ON HER HEAD..."

and so it went on for several minutes.

Charlie sat in shock.

"Must've been a different Charlie Weasley." he muttered, then walked out into the sunshine.

Tonks swore and threw her socks in the suitcase.

She didn't want to go home and recuperate at her mum and dad's: They would just want to know _why_ her hair was brown and _why_ she always sad.

_Everyone _wanted to know _why_ she was acting like this.

She herself was a little confused by the _why _she was still feeling like her heart had fallen out and refused to come back.

She was so angry with him, but she missed him. Terribly.

Tonks hadn't seen him since they had their very _public _argument at the hospital after Dumbledore's untimely death.

As if she wasn't having enough trouble getting over _that _big problem, he had to publicly turn her down. _Again._

A sharp crack brought her back to reality. Someone had apparated inside the house.

This was nothing new: The twins still thoroughly enjoyed scaring their mother half out of their wits any time they could, even though they now lived full time in London.

Molly's voice raised from somewhere below her when, mid-yell, it was suddenly cut off.

Tonks smirked: It had probably been one of the members of the Order.

No one really felt comfortable lecturing Kingsley Shacklebolt.

The young auror sighed again and threw another set of clothes into the shabby brown suitcase.

Even _it _reminded her of him.

_This is sad..._  
She thought to herself irritably.

A knock sounded on her door.

"I'm packing and I don't want to talk, come back later please, whoever you are."  
The door was flung open. Tonks angrily whirled, fully prepared to hex Ron thoroughly if he was back again asking questions about girls again.

Girls AKA Hermione.

Life would be _a lot _easier if someone would just throw the two of them in a broom closet and tell them that they weren't allowed to come out until they kissed and made up.

But it wasn't redheaded Ron standing in front of her.

She didn't really get to see who it was actually, she just turned to find her lips pulled into the most intensely passionate kiss she'd ever experienced.

Her eyes popped open to find a very determined looking Remus Lupin staring down into her face.

He seemed to need to breathe after a moment or two, but before she could ask what the devil was going on, he plunged into his speech which he had planned very thoroughly as he'd been apparating and then completely forgotten as soon as he'd seen her there, standing in front of a half full suitcase.

"You can't leave," he pleaded.

"What" Tonks began

"No, you don't get to argue, I know I've been a rotten fool that's put you through everything and then some, and that I don't deserve anything from you, but you _can't _leave. You just can't. I- I don't think I can manage without you- and-and-and there are _dragons _in Romania and Lord knows I love Charlie, but he thinks that those beasts are kind creatures. But everyone else knows they'd eat you as soon as look at you and if that idiot let _anything _happen to you I'd have to kill him and then have to go join the Death Eaters or something because then I'd be evil...."

He seemed to realize that he'd lost the main stream of his original thought-

"Dora, you can't go away and marry that idiot. Because then I'll have to go to your wedding and tell you that I'm happy for you. And Sirius always said I was the _worst _liar. So you can't fall in love with Charlie and marry Charlie, because you're in love with _me,_ and you have to stay and marry _me."  
_Tonks just stood there looking slightly stunned. Lupin took that as a good sign and plunged ahead.

"I know I'm older than you, and I'm a werewolf and I'm poorer than a bloody church mouse, but I love you, I love you more than I've loved anything in my life. If I were to lose you too, I am not sure if I could live with myself, so please... don't go. Stay here... with me."

Tonks finally found her voice.

"Remus, I'm not going to Romania with Charlie."

The werewolf's face brightened so suddenly and so drastically that he seemed to be a different person.

"You'll stay then?"  
"No, Remus."  
"Oh...." Just as quickly he lost the joy and looked suddenly older than ever.

"No Remus, I -_ who_ told you that I was going to Romania?"  
Lupin frowned.

"The twins did."  
Tonks looked aghast.  
"And you _believed _them?"  
"Why would they lie about something like this?" he asked.

She raised an eyebrow.

"They're Fred and George - why wouldn't they?"  
Remus began to swear, looking so angry that Tonks was a little impressed.

He calmed down after a few minutes - she wanted to laugh at him to relieve this unbearable tension.

"Well, now at least you don't have to worry about going through with all that stuff,"  
He didn't look at her, only looked up from his angry stare at the floor.

"What do you mean?"  
She chuckled, but it wasn't mirthful.

"Marry me, love me, keep me from running away to Romania with Charlie and his Dragons. Thank your lucky stars that we realized what was going on before I gave you an answer. If not, you would have been stuck with me."  
Of course she was disappointed. She'd thought that he was in love with her. _Not_ just afraid that she was leaving- but she couldn't let it show now, could she?

Of course not.

His eyes met hers.

"What would it have been?"

Tonks was sure that she'd misheard him.

"What would what have been?"  
"Your answer? What would you have said?"  
Tonks paled.

"Oh well... I don't think that.... how would _I_ know..." she babbled stupidly  
"What would you say to a middle aged man who's just burst into your room and yelled like a madman and told you that you couldn't leave."

Then he was there, down on one knee in front of her; eyes completely devoid of the worry and fear that had plagued him since she'd known him.

"What would you say if he got down on one knee and asked you if you would marry him and be his wife, really this time, not because, you know, he thought you were running away to have seventeen redheaded children and possibly be cooked in your bed by giant, angry lizards. What would you say to _me_?"

Nymphadora Tonks - who had been in love only once in her life, who listened to the Weird Sisters and wore leather boots - was about to give an answer to a man who wore polos and suits, who read Shakespeare _on purpose _and understood her obscure Sci-Fi references.

Heck, she probably would have married him because he knew what Sci-Fi _meant_.

"I would say yes." she replied surely, and kissed him.

After they finished kissing and such Remus suddenly frowned, blanched and then swore loudly. In that order.

"What's wrong?" asked Tonks

"I'm going to have to send an apology letter, I think." he muttered.

۞

In that same spot in heaven, several people stared down at the newest couple.

A man - with hair that looked as though he'd just gotten off a broom and a high wide forehead - adjusted the glasses on his nose and smirked.

"Good lord, took him long enough."  
His wife, a beauty with long red hair and vivid green eyes, laughed and punched her husband lightly in the arm.

"James, not everyone can be the ladies man that you were."  
Another man barked his laughter.

"He came back with a black eye the first time that he tried to kiss you and didn't you tell him that he was a toe rag and that he was the last man on earth that you could ever want to marry?"

Lily Potter laughed her merry laugh again.

"I had just finished Pride and Prejudice again - I couldn't resist."  
"That's a Muggle book, isn't it?"  
Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Of course it is, Lily Evans _always _had her nose in a book."  
"Which is why she will _always _be smarter than you, Master Black."  
A pair of light blue eyes twinkled behind the familiar half-moon glasses as their owner finished his words.

They all grew quiet, watching the young (sort of) couple enjoy their first moments together.

"I swear to you James, I thought that Remus had a bad-tempered pet rabbit or something before I got to know him," said Lily laughing

James and Sirius roared with laughter, looking for all to see like a group of seventh years sharing a joke.

"It's cause James was always going on about his "furry little problem" " Sirius cackled loudly

James was laughing so hard that he could barely breathe.

"Poor Moony... it's shocking really, that he stayed with us all these years."

"Well, there _was _some rumour circulating that Sirius and Remus were a bit more than friends." said Dumbledore coyly.

Sirius' barking laugh stopped instantly.

"What the - but I had _girlfriends - many __**many **_girlfriends...."  
James began to gasp for air he was laughing so hard.

Sirius still looked a bit disgusted...

"Did Moony know about this?"  
James and Lily nodded.

"WHAT!!??"

Lily allowed her husband to laugh for a while- before dropping the next bomb,

"James, you always wondered why I wouldn't go out with you: Well, half the school thought that you had a _specific _reason for hanging out with three _guys _all the time..."

The redhead gave the same smirk that her son was known to give as her husband stopped laughing so suddenly that his glasses fell off.

"That's disgusting..." said James rebelliously.

Sirius nodded his agreement, they both looked a little shell-shocked by this information.

"Oh shove it, Quidditch-head-" said Lily laughingly. "They all figured that you were straight after your seventh-year..."  
Sirius began to laugh.

"When McGonagall caught you two "studying" in the potion's closet?"  
James smirked suggestively at his wife, who colored prettily.

Dumbledore, who had listened to this conversation in silence, finally spoke with his rumbling voice.

"Sirius you forget the biggest rumour: That Professor McGonagall had a very _vested _interest in your education-"

Sirius' mouth fell open.

"McGoogles and me?" He asked- amidst the sniggers. "Ewww....That's just wrong."

"Pity though." said James finally, thankfully interrupting the beginning of Sirius' rampage on the vagaries of the teenage mind.

Sirius of course, had forgotten instantly that he was one of those teens on the forefront of guessing the latest pairings, usually giving 3-1 odds that Lucius Malfoy was gayer than a two-dollar bill or the perennial favourite of "Guess who I Snogged last night?"

"**What's that, Prongs?" asked Sirius, momentarily distracted from his grumbling.  
"Their kids are gonna be **_**weird **_**looking."**

~Fin~

Author's Note: Hah, couldn't end it on a serious note,

Well anyhoo, hope you liked it. If it made you laugh drop me a review if it made you cry, same. If it moved you AT ALL share the love.

thanks to all the reviewers who made me feel special lol, i love writing to a flattering audience (why lie)

There is another story that i've written to sort of follow this one, if you're interested keep reading

*SPOILER ALERT FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T READ BOOK 7*

It's an afterlife story following the deaths of Remus and Tonks (sniff sniff). I warn you, it is neither touchy nor feely and full of Marauder-y humor. It should be out soon, so look for it :-))

Thanks again for reading my random thoughts- even MORE thanks to Alix33 who went through a RIDICULOUS amount of trouble to help me with this chapter.

Aloha,

Red


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